Grant Compliance Manager (Energy Domain)

Position Description:

Title and ID : Project Manager/Grant Manager - 2

Duration : 12 months

Location : Albany preferred but would consider anywhere in NY or adjacent states

Where the work will be performed Remote

• Initiative - Grants Compliance Management
• Programmatic need being met by this request - Provide analysis, pre-award and post-award support services, and oversight to ensure compliance with applicable federal and NYS regulations and grant-specific requirements and serve as a resource for staff regarding grant-funded programs for fiscal and programmatic compliance matters.
• Where the work will be performed Remote
• Location of Resource - Albany preferred but would consider anywhere in NY or adjacent states
• Is travel required for this position - 5% - initial orientation and 1x per quarter, if necessary

Key Responsibilities

• Collaboration & Communication
• Act as a compliance resource on grant regulations and policies.
• Communicate with internal teams (finance, legal, audit) and granting agencies.
• Proactive Compliance Controls
• Develop policies/procedures to meet federal/state grant requirements.
• Implement compliance training for staff.
• Establish monitoring, auditing, and reporting processes.
• Pre-Award Management
• Assist in grant proposal development and submission.
• Track grant opportunities and requirements.
• Support grant agreement negotiations.
• Ongoing Compliance & Reporting
• Ensure budgets and expenses comply with regulations.
• Review reports before submission.
• Maintain accurate grant-related records.
• Prepare for audits and external reviews.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Experience:

• 5+ years in federal grant compliance oversight
• 5+ years in project/process management across multiple teams
• 2+ years in audit oversight, risk management, or related
• Excel for financial analysis and tracking,
• Grant Compliance must have

Knowledge: Federal grants, OMB Uniform Guidance, Code of Federal Regulations.

Skills: Strong project management, compliance monitoring, communication, Excel/Word, data management, analysis.

Education: Bachelor s in business, law, or public administration (preferred in auditing, accounting, finance, legal, or risk). Advanced degree a plus.

Summary

This is a federal grants compliance-focused Project Manager role. The person will support NYSERDA s CFO office by ensuring pre- and post-award grant compliance, developing compliance systems, training staff, monitoring regulations, preparing reports, and assisting with audits.

Primary Responsibilities, and Minimum and Preferred Qualifications:

What skills are needed to be successful in this role?

• Detail-oriented; demonstrating a high degree of focus on reporting quality, timeliness, and record-keeping that establishes a strong, auditable indicators of compliance with grant terms and conditions.
• Track record of effectively establishing, executing, and enforcing processes, schedules, work structures, and other measures to ensure regulatory compliance.
• Must demonstrate effective collaboration with and influence of staff at all levels to ensure adherence to grant requirements.
• Excellent organizational, project management, and process management skills

• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal including nuanced negotiations.

• Good research, data management, and statistical analysis skills.
• Microsoft Office Applications, proficiency in Excel and Word.

Are there any specialized skills that must be present for the position to be successful?

• Intimately familiar with federal grant requirements and compliance including OMB Uniform Guidance and Code of Federal Regulations; expert-level knowledge a plus.
• Multi-year track record of ensuring entity-wide compliance with federal grant terms and regulations for entities with multiple complex concurrent grants.
• Able to quickly assess, log, and translate for other staff various operational and reporting requirements implied by grant terms and conditions, and prioritize the relative importance and quality expectations for each.
• Requires strong reading comprehension and familiarity with contract/grant agreements.
• Adept at identifying potential and actual changes in federal regulation approaches and standards; must proactively stay abreast of evolving developments in the political landscape and be able to translate new developments to potential compliance impacts.

Certifications and qualifications, including education/degree

• 4-year business, law, or public administration degree. Auditing, accounting, finance, legal, or risk management fields preferred.
• Advanced degree a plus but not required.
• 5+ years of experience working in a function responsible for federal grant compliance oversight.
• 5+ years of complex project and process management for work scope spanning multiple teams and with multiple time-bounded deadlines to manage concurrently.
• 2+ years of collective experience working in an audit oversight, risk management, or similar capacity

IT systems that will be used:

• Microsoft Office Suite, NEIS, SharePoint, Teams

Tasks

Collaboration and Communication:

• Act as a resource on grantor regulations and policies. Stay abreast of federal regulatory and policy updates at the federal and state level, both government wide (i.e., Code of Federal Regulations) and specific to the issuing agency. Actively monitor proposed and actual changes and provide proactive communication on the same to NYSERDA legal, regulatory, and internal controls staff.
• Work closely with program, finance, legal, regulatory and internal audit staff.
• Communicate with granting agencies and other stakeholders as assigned.

Proactive Controls Structures:

• Develop and modify policies/procedures/systems in accordance with government regulations and organizational needs and objectives, in consultation with NYSERDA Counsel and Internal Controls Officer. Develop and implement compliance training for staff.
• Ensure complete understanding and application of necessary controls measures to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations and reporting requirements, including:

• Articulation of all requirements, i.e., operational/programmatic, financial, legal, reporting;
• Assignment of roles and responsibilities to foster accountability and satisfactory internal checks, balances, and quality control reviews for timely and accurate compliance;
• Ensuring clear understanding by accountable parties of all compliance requirements including specific roles and expectations for each party, extending to sub-awardees and/or contractors as applicable;
• Establishment of an ongoing, proactive scheduling and monitoring process to ensure timely production of reports and deliverables due to grantors or other regulatory bodies.

• Coordinate strategic internal self-audits to proactively assess compliance. Assist in developing successful strategies to address potential issues to result in a high success rate of issue resolution. Ensure needed adjustments to practices and/or reports are made timely if/as needed.

Pre-Award Management:

• Engage in grant proposal development and submission, ensuring alignment with grantor requirements and organizational policies.
• Track grant opportunities, including award amounts, expiration dates, and reporting requirements.
• Assist in negotiating grant agreements to secure funding and address indirect costs.
• Ensure timely and accurate input, review, and monitoring of grant application status in financial and other applicable internal and grantor systems.

Ongoing Compliance and Reporting:

• Coordinate with finance staff to ensure appropriate management of budget including supporting time tracking and verification that expenditures submitted for reimbursement are eligible in accordance with all relevant regulations and grant terms.
• Review information and reports for internal and external stakeholders to ensure adherence with regulatory requirements prior to report submission.
• Ensure maintenance, storage, and retention of accurate grants-related records and documentation.
• Assist in preparations for external monitoring visits, reviews, and audits, and cross-site evaluations and participate as appropriate.